Graphics break up/sparkle after export

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

Hi friends! Former newsroom editor, now making slightly more complex videos for a different type of org. 

I have made two videos that look great -- simple image (photo or video) on V1 with Adobe Stock Essential Graphics (the free MOGRTs) on V2. 

I made a 16 x 9 (landscape) version for some social media platforms, and a 1 x 1 (square) version for other ones. On the 1 x 1 version, the graphics break up or sparkle around the edges in a few places. (IDK the technical term for this unintended look. It kind of resembles old VHS "static" around the edges.) 

Seq setting on 16 x 9 version is ARRI Cinema 23976 1920 x 1080 prog (screen shot)
Seq setting on 1 x 1 vresion is ARRI Cinema 23976 1 x 1 prog (screen shot) (achieved thru auto reframe sequence)

Export setting on 16 x 9 is H.264 - YouTube 1080p Full HD

Export setting on 1 x 1 is H.264  - Match Source - High Bitrate

Landscape export turns out great, no VHS static around edges of any of the graphics. Square export gives the VHS static. Help.  

I'm editing on a Dell laptop Intel Core i7 10850H CPU @ 2.7 GHz
16 GB RAM

Windows 10 Enterprise 
Editing on Premiere Pro V22.0.0

[John V Knowles]

Real quick solution test:

The issue may be the different compression settings you're using for each version. So we need to export the square version with the same preset (Youtube 1080) as the landscape one, but alter it so that the size is correct. So:

1. Export the square sequence
2. Choose the same Youtube 1080 preset you used for the landscape
3. Scroll down in the export window to "Basic Video Settings" and click that "Match Source" button. The size listed should now switch to the proper square size.
4. Click 'Export' and see if the output now matches the landscape version in quality.

JVK

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

Thanks for the suggestion! I gave it a whirl and unfortunately still have the same "static" or sparkle around the edge of the graphics in a couple places. 

Do you think my sequence setting matters? I'm open to changing my sequence setting. I'm certianly not shooting ARRI Cinema. In fact, most of what I shoot on is either an iPhone, a Samsung, or a Canon Mk IV. This particular project where I'm having the issue is not even original footage -- it's stock imagery, in JPG format. (They're stills.) 

Or should I try a different export setting? 

Thanks!

[John V Knowles]

Sequence setting shouldn't matter. "Editing mode" doesn't really mean anything beyond the frame size, rate and aspect ratio; the camera name is just there to help people match their footage but it's not important.

Can you double check the that background locker image is not being scaled in any way in the square sequence? 

JVK

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

Thanks for this suggestion! I checked and it was scaled up. I scaled it down to 100 and re-exported. Same deal unfortuantely. 

Could it have anything to do with auto-reframe sequence?

[Jeff Bellune]

Two things to try:

1. For export, check Maximum Render Quality for the square sequence.

2. If #1 doesn't work, try reframing the landscape sequence *without* the graphic, then adding the graphic back after re-framing.

[Richard van den Boogaard]

Please consider running the JPEGs through Photoshop and create PSDs of them before importing them into PPro. I have seen weird things happen to compressed formats like PNG and JPEG before.

Hope this helps.

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

Thanks for these suggestions, tried all 3 above. Max Reder Quality didn't change anything. Adding graphics after auto reframe didn't entirely get rid of the problem, but did minimize it to just a little corner of the graphic, which I found interesting. Changing to PSDs unfortunately did not resolve the issue either.

While going through these processes suggested above, I noticed something: the issue appears on parts of the timeline where I have the two MOGRTs stacked to accommodate more than 3 lines of text. (All that text, I know... but people did read it lol). The  MOGRT on the lower track had to be adjusted so that it would be positioned on the screen accordingly, not blocked out by the first three lines of text. I achieved the repositioning on the Landscape version by stepping into the Text Motion paramater for each line of text (3 in this case). (Looking back, perhaps I ought to have just changed the Vector Motion positioning.)

On the Square version, the positioning was still off after auto reframe sequencing, so I had to re-reposition that one as well. This I achieved through adjusting the video motion. not vector motion -- again, looking back should have done this. However I just tested re-auto-framing the square sequence & tweaking in Vector rather than Video motion. Still same result. 

Here are some screen shots for ref. 

[John V Knowles]

Not sure if you were aware or if you had to change it for some reason, but you can have multiple layers in your Essential Graphics. So each of those lines can be a separate layer but inside one graphic clip and not 3. I'm not sure if this would help the but it would certainly clean up your timeline.

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

I did not know that! Thanks for the suggestion, I will try it out in the future as we are using this particular MOGRT a lot -- the bosses really like it 😄 

So, would I just duplicate the line(s) of text and its accompanying shapes/shadows and move them up/down within Essential Gfx panel? Thanks!

[Christian.Z]

A btter approach is to edit on 16x9 sequences, use a 1x1 solid with low opacity that will help you resize and export as 1x1

[defaultpjosz84t8f7l]

Thanks for this suggestion. I tried out editing on a 16 x 9 seq with a lo-opacity solid at 1 x 1. It was a little more labor intensive than fixing the auto-reframe-sequence framing. Also from there, I found it challenging to export at 1 x 1 -- tried just plain old h264>match source/hi bitrate but couldn't make it export 1080 x 1080 without really thick black bars. Maybe I have my export approach all wrong.